Episode 63

“Heroes are often seen as morally bankrupt individuals.”

With such a pervasive perception, adventurers generally viewed heroes negatively, and thus, the adventurers in this party likely saw this situation as an opportunity.

Despite having the power to obliterate enemies that would give the entire party a hard time, the fact that this hero willingly agreed to equal profit sharing and even mundane errands was remarkable.

Wasn’t it perfect to exploit someone like that, not just as a pushover but also as a stress-relief doll?

“Ha, when they said ‘Fallen Hero’, I thought it meant someone powerless and useless, but even a fallen hero is still a hero, huh?”

“…I get the barricade, but making her do the dishes seems a bit too much.”

The vanguard was looking anxious and apprehensive at the mage’s words.

But his concern seemed more about whether the hero might use her power for revenge than worry for Ga-ram’s wellbeing.

No matter how much they considered themselves superior to a ‘Fallen Hero’, given her abilities displayed so far, they must know that they could be easily crushed…

“Ah, what’s there to be afraid of? If the world were simply ruled by the strong, humanity would have fallen to the heroes long ago, not to empires.”

On the other hand, the mage, despite witnessing such power, showed no hesitation in her actions.

Their nonchalant and mocking demeanor indicated a complete lack of guilt or discomfort with their actions.

“Initially, heroes have to kowtow to their patrons to maintain their authority. So, it’s not strange for us to exert some dominance over this hero who can’t even recruit a single adventurer. Don’t you think so, too, monk?”

“Well, considering the hero who wasted my monastery’s sponsorship money, I can’t even pretend to have a good impression of heroes.”

“See, even the pure monk says so. You can be shameless about it. If that hero gets mad and kills us all, then there really won’t be any adventurers willing to party with her.”

The mage chuckled, looking toward where Ga-ram went to do the dishes.

As the mage spoke unabashedly, the monk and the vanguard gradually agreed, while the sniper watching them shook his head with a bitter smile.

“What a situation. The culprit and the victim are different…”

“What’s with you? You’ve been mocking her all this time, and now you suddenly back out?”

“I just believe in doing as much work as I receive. I can handle a joke in front of others, but backbiting like this doesn’t sit well with me. I’ll take my leave for a bit to scout around. You guys take some more rest.”

Saying so, the sniper left the scene.

The mage, who had been gossiping, watched his back with a sullen expression.

Well, if there was no more gossip, then there was no need for me to be here either.

“What’s with you? Suddenly losing interest… Huh? Where are you going now?”

“I’m worried about the hero. I’ll go check on her.”

“Ha! What’s there to worry about? The area’s all barricaded, and that rascal checked for traps, too~”

“You never know what might happen.”

Even if the hero was in a position where she couldn’t oppress the party, if something happened to her, they would have to directly confront monsters like the gargoyle they initially faced.

With that pretext to leave the gossiping group, the vanguard muttered bitterly.

“That guy, ever since I first saw him, I felt he was quite aloof.”

“Come to think of it, he’s quite suspicious in many ways. Hiding his face and even his name as a condition for joining the party…”

“If he were sane, he wouldn’t have chosen a spear-wielding class. Pfft, what kind of class is ‘Spearman’ anyway?”

…Damn that mage.

Making me remember what I had forgotten.

“Whatever. It’s his business what he does. Let’s not bother with it. Speaking of what the hero did earlier…”

Even after I had stepped away, the mage began gossiping again.

I wanted to intervene, but now I hold a title as infamous among adventurers as the ‘Fallen Hero’—Hero Killer.

If friction escalated, I would have to reveal my identity, and even then, it wouldn’t change their perception of the hero, so I tried to stay as detached as possible.

I would have to intervene if things went too far, but that time shouldn’t come just yet.

“…It’s okay.”

That faint voice came when I stood at the entrance of the room where Ga-ram was.

Amidst the clattering sound from the fountain in the middle of the room, I could faintly see Ga-ram washing the dishes, touching her eyes.

“It’s okay. I can handle this.”

A self-reassuring mumble to ease the loneliness of doing dishes…

To interpret it that way, even I, eavesdropping, could clearly feel the tremble in that voice.

“I’m used to this. Everyone said we have to keep the party together, even if it’s like this…”

Clatter, clatter. The sound of dishes clashing under the fountain.

As the droplets falling from her face landed on the still-wet dishes, the girl’s gaze naturally turned to their surface.

To wipe off the droplets with a dishcloth.

“I only have this, but if I just endure a little more, everything will be alright…”

She continued washing the dishes steadfastly, but was it because she couldn’t ignore her reflection on the plates?

The girl stopped in her tracks, staring intently at her faint reflection for a while.

No matter how much she tried to console herself, she couldn’t ignore her true feelings.

“Uh…”

Trying to suppress the emerging sobs, she bit her lip, but with a tender heart, that was impossible.

Tears were bound to break through sooner or later.

“Uh, uh…”

After several attempts to wipe her eyes with her wet hands, her arms slumped to the ground.

Finally, the girl, reaching the limits of her endurance, began to release her suppressed emotions alone.

“Huuu…”

A sorrowful cry.

Even that, she feared, might reach the ears of the party members in the other room, so she tried to suppress her voice as much as possible. The Fallen Hero… No, a young girl who hadn’t even reached adulthood yet.

But I couldn’t bring myself to offer even a word of comfort to her pitiable figure.

Her inherently weak heart, the confusion of being dropped into a strange world, and worries about the future.

Before she could even build up her self-esteem as a hero to neutralize these negative emotions, I, who had unintentionally intruded, had pointlessly crushed them.

“Uh, huuu…”

How miserable must she feel, with no one to depend on in such a pitiful reality, serving others despite her destined fate?

Even if she gets used to it, such familiarity comes not from resolution but from resignation to an unchanging reality.

No matter how miserable her situation would become, she resigned herself to it as her fate, a pitiable and regrettable state of affairs.

“Why do heroes seem to have no middle ground?”

Either their character was completely corrupt, or they became more pitiable cowards than foreign laborers.

Of course, if it were the latter, being aware of the situation could prevent death from negligence, but in this harsh, dark fantasy world, life itself was a pain for those who lacked.

In such a world, even with innate abilities, being exploited by others and living a life tormented by fear every moment was not something a young girl could endure.

“…If only there were some hope.”

Yes, if only there were even a sliver of hope that she could live a better future.

Guided by a gesture born from such guilt, a note soon unfolded quietly before my eyes.

[Open this after your first camp in the dungeon.]

It was the third note given by Airi.

To minimize the variables when the future was known, this note was allowed to be opened only at crucial moments. Now, the opportunity to unfold it has arrived.

Of course, this note was intended to solve my worries.

It would help with my stability and growth but not necessarily guarantee the girl’s safety.

But if she had foreseen that I would have such concerns in the future…

“…What is this?”

The content of the note, opened with such extravagant hopes, far exceeded my expectations.

I had thought that I might have to endanger the girl to preserve my own life, but the note revealed that such worries were unfounded from the start.

“Damn, this isn’t the time to worry about gossip.”

I expected the newly discovered dungeon to be infested with murderers, but I never imagined something worse awaited.

If not prevented, something truly terrible might happen.

The next day after camping.

The dungeon exploration, which resumed, went as smoothly as the day before.

With a skilled scout detecting traps and the hero’s power to swiftly deal with monsters like gargoyles.

Initially cautious, the party members relaxed as the journey progressed smoothly, focusing their efforts on investigating structures.

“Hero! Can you set up a barricade here so we can rest?”

“Yes, sure. Leave it to me…”

“Hehe~ It’s so much easier and better with our hero’s help~”

She looked tired, as if she hadn’t slept well, having stood guard the night before.

The mage chuckled at the sight of her moving structures to block the passage, and the vanguard and monk exchanged glances before awkwardly smiling.

Seeing the mage treat the hero like a servant, their restraint was likely fading.

That behavior might soon become extremely biased, but coincidentally, now is not the time to focus on that.

“Really now, why are they dumping their frustrations on a little girl who’s not even their whipped hero… You don’t seem to approve of such things either, right?”

The sniper, disapproving of the party members’ behavior, didn’t interfere and just clicked his tongue from a distance.

Later, when he approached me as if seeking agreement, I gestured toward the unblocked passage and spoke to him.

“Rather than that, I want to scout that area for a bit. Can you join me?”

“That way? Didn’t we confirm there was nothing there when we passed by earlier?”

“There’s something that’s bothering me a bit. I ask for your help.”

“Ah, sure. If that’s the case… Hero, we’re going to scout around, so could you barricade the place we passed through?”

He pretended to follow me while entrusting the hero with a room to rest in.

After walking down the corridor for a while, I led him to a room that served as a library filled with obstacles and then stopped.

“It seems we’ve come quite far from the party. Is there some problem…?”

Swish!

My spear in hand swung fiercely at that moment.

The sharp blade, forged from mithril, sliced through the bookshelf and its ancient tomes, but the target’s legs had already moved away from the spot.

“…Hey, what the hell are you doing?”

Damn, I missed.

Even with the surprise attack, his instincts must be sharp from surviving in the dungeon for so long.

“You’re not one of those jerks who attacked the hero as soon as they entered here, are you? I had a bad feeling when you hid your face and name…”

“Assassination Specialist Clan, Red Cross member, Paul Denian.”

No matter what, this man needed to be dealt with here.

Convinced of this, I removed the mask concealing my face and repeated the content prophesied by Airi.

“You came to assassinate the hero on the clan’s orders, right?

Considering the slight chance that Airi’s prophecy might be incorrect.

By revealing my identity and mentioning his status, it seemed he recognized my face and began to smirk.

“…Haha, really now.”

As if the fact that he was a murderer disguised as an adventurer.

Became a reality from this point on.

“So, you’ve killed dozens of heroes, huh? It looks like you have the knack for recognizing people in the business~”

Right, this wasn’t the time to worry about petty gossip.

If I don’t eliminate this man here, starting with him attempting to kill the child, the murderers waiting for the signal would begin slaughtering adventurers in the dungeon indiscriminately.